Faraday and UMC Strengthen IP Alliance for Advanced Nodes

HSINCHU, Taiwan, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Faraday Technology Corporation (TWSE: 3035), a leading ASIC and silicon IP provider, and United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced an agreement that strengthens the companies' IP alliance to include fundamental and specialized IP for advanced UMC processes. Under the terms of the agreement, Faraday will optimize a complete IP portfolio for UMC processes ranging from 0.11um to 28nm nodes to help mutual customers shorten their SoC design time-to-market for a variety of applications.

The IP package covers low-power fundamental IP including memory compilers and standard cell libraries, as well as a series of interface IP that Faraday has specialized in, such as USB 3.0, DDR3, SATA, and audio DAC.

"Our cooperation with UMC can address mutual customers' requirements in various target applications," commented Jensen Yen, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Spokesperson at Faraday. "UMC and Faraday have achieved successful customer milestones in the cloud computing market, with continuous migration to advanced nodes and larger scale that illustrate Faraday's core strength in SoC design and integration capabilities. Furthermore, for matured nodes, we can cover embedded systems such as smart meter, interface applications, and MCU that still have tremendous market potential. This agreement demonstrates Faraday's design capabilities leveraged with UMC's proven advanced technologies and mutual commitment in IP development can further ensure customers' competitiveness in several emerging hot markets."

Shih Chin Lin, Director of the IP Development & Design Support division at UMC, said, "We are pleased to extend our partnership with Faraday in this multi-process platform package. This agreement adheres to UMC's strategy of establishing a high performance, low power process platform continuum. With our customers' product roadmap in mind, UMC's platform for 55nm, 40nm and 28nm process technologies is a true total solution that paves a seamless design migration path for consumer and mobile communication products. Strengthening our IP portfolio with strategic partner Faraday will further streamline the path to SoC silicon success for customers designing into these technologies."

About UMC

UMC (NYSE: UMC, TWSE: 2303) is a leading global semiconductor foundry that provides advanced technology and manufacturing services for applications spanning every major sector of the IC industry. UMC's customer-driven foundry solutions allow chip designers to leverage the strength of the company's leading-edge processes, which include production proven 65nm, 45/40nm, mixed signal/RFCMOS, and a wide range of specialty technologies. Production is supported through 10 wafer manufacturing facilities that include two advanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i are both in volume production for a variety of customer products. The company employs approximately 14,000 people worldwide and has offices in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com.

About Faraday Technology

Faraday Technology Corporation is a leading fables ASIC and silicon IP provider. The company's broad silicon IP portfolio includes I/O, Cell Library, Memory Compiler, ARM-compliant CPUs, DDRI/II/III, MPEG4, H.264, USB 2.0/3.0, 10/100 Ethernet, Serial ATA, and PCI Express, etc. Headquartered in Taiwan, Faraday has service and support offices around the world, including the U.S., Japan, Europe, and mainland China. Faraday is listed in Taiwan Stock Exchange, ticker 3035. For more information, please visit: www.faraday-tech.com

Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and technological and development risks. Further information concerning these risks is included in UMC's filings with the U.S. SEC, including on Form F-1, F-3, F-6 and 20-F, each as amended.

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SOURCE United Microelectronics Corporation; Faraday Technology Corporation